Process for preparing a channel region of a thin-film transistor in a 3-dimensional thin-film transistor array

Abstract

A process includes (a) providing a semiconductor substrate having a planar surface; (b) forming a plurality of thin-film layers above the planar surface of the semiconductor substrate, one on top of another, including among the thin-film layers first and second isolation layers, wherein a significantly greater concentration of a first dopant specie is provided in the first isolation layer than in the second isolation layer; (c) etching along a direction substantially orthogonal to the planar surface through the thin-films to create a trench having sidewalls that expose the thin-film layers; (d) depositing conformally a semiconductor material on the sidewalls of the trench; (e) annealing the first isolation layer at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined duration such that the first isolation layer act as a source of the first dopant specie which dopes a portion of the semiconductor material adjacent the first isolation layer; and (f) selectively etching the semiconductor material to remove the doped portion of the semiconductor material without removing the remainder of the semiconductor material.

Claims

1. A process, comprising: providing a semiconductor substrate having a planar surface; forming a plurality of thin-film layers above the planar surface of the semiconductor substrate, one on top of another, including among the thin-film layers first and second isolation layers, wherein a significantly greater concentration of a first dopant specie is provided in the first isolation layer than in the second isolation layer; etching along a direction substantially orthogonal to the planar surface through the thin-films to create a trench having sidewalls that expose the thin-film layers; depositing conformally a semiconductor material on the sidewalls of the trench; annealing the first isolation layer at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined duration such that the first isolation layer act as a source of the first dopant specie which dopes a portion of the semiconductor material adjacent the first isolation layer; and selectively etching the semiconductor material to remove the doped portion of the semiconductor material without removing the remainder of the semiconductor material.

2. The process of claim 1, further comprising etching the thin-film layers such that the first isolation layer recesses from the sidewalls of the trench.

3. The process of claim 1 wherein the semiconductor material comprises at least one of: an amorphous silicon and a polysilicon.

4. The process of claim 1, wherein selective etching comprises a dry etching step.

5. The process of claim 1, wherein (i) the first isolation layer comprises one or more of: an organosilicon layer, a silicon nitride layer and a silicate glass, and (ii) the selective etching uses an etchant that comprises at least one of: tetra-methyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH), potassium hydroxide (KOH), and ethylene diamine and pyrocatechol (EDP).

6. The process of claim 5, wherein the annealing step comprises a rapid thermal annealing step, and wherein the predetermined temperature is between 650° C. and 820° C., preferably about 750° C.

7. The process of claim 5, wherein the first dopant specie comprises boron.

8. The process of claim 5, wherein the organosilicate layer comprises SiOCH or SiOC.

9. The process of claim 1, wherein the first isolation layer is carbon-doped with a carbon dopant concentration of about 10.sup.20 cm.sup.−3 or greater, and wherein the selective etching uses an etchant that comprises ethylene diamine and pyrocatechol (EDP).

10. The process of claim 9, wherein the annealing step comprises a rapid thermal annealing step, and wherein the predetermined temperature is between about 600° C. and about 820° C., preferably about 750° C.

11. The process of claim 1, further comprising depositing a highly doped material adjacent and over the semiconductor material, the highly doped material comprises a second dopant specie, and annealing the second dopant specie to adjust an effective dopant concentration in the semiconductor material.

12. The process of claim 11, wherein the effective dopant concentration determines a threshold voltage of a thin-film transistor in which the semiconductor material serve as a channel region.

13. The process of claim 11, wherein the first dopant specie comprises boron and the second dopant specie comprise phosphorus.

14. The process of claim 1, wherein (i) the first isolation layer comprises one or more of: an organosilicon layer, a silicon nitride layer and a silicate glass, and (ii) the selective etching uses an etchant that comprises at least one of: atomic chlorine, HF and a fluorocarbon gas.

15. The process of claim 14, wherein the annealing step comprises a rapid thermal annealing step, and wherein the predetermined temperature is between about 600° C. and about 820° C., preferably about 750° C.

16. The process of claim 14, wherein the first dopant specie comprises phosphorus.

17. The process of claim 14, wherein the etchant is provided in an solution aqueous HF solution that includes both HF and one or more of: nitric acid and acetic acid.

18. The process of claim 1, further comprising depositing a capping layer over the conformally deposited semiconductor material.

19. The process of claim 18, wherein the first isolation layer comprises a borosilicate glass or phosphorus silicate glass with a dopant concentration of boron or phosphorus greater than 1.0×10.sup.22 cm.sup.−3.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1(a) shows structure 100 of a 3-dimensional thin-film transistor array at an intermediate step of formation.

(2) FIG. 1(b) shows one instance of resulting structure 100 after a separation etch.

(3) FIG. 2(a) show the resulting structure 100, in which the portions of channel semiconductor material 107 on the sidewalls of trenches 109 are designated 107-1, while the boron-doped portions of the channel semiconductor material 107 adjacent body oxide layers 104 are designated 107-2, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

(4) FIG. 2(b) shows the resulting structure 100 after a selective etch using an etchant has a significantly different etch rate between undoped polysilicon and doped silicon of a predetermined dopant concentration or greater.

(5) FIG. 3 shows, after the selective etch of FIG. 2(b), a thin layer of phosphorus silicate glass (PSG), e.g., 10-nm thick, may be deposited on structure 100, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

(6) FIGS. 4(i) and (ii) illustrate an alternatively embodiment of the present invention, in which isolation layers 106 dope their adjacent channel semiconductor material 107 for selective removal, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

(7) FIGS. 5(i) and (ii) illustrate a second embodiment of the present invention, in which isolation layers 106 dope their adjacent channel semiconductor material 107 for selective removal, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

(8) FIGS. 6(i), 6(ii) and 6(iii) illustrate a third alternatively embodiment of the present invention, in which isolation layers 106 dope their adjacent channel semiconductor material 107 for selective removal, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(9) The present invention avoids both the excessive thinning of the channel semiconductor material adjacent the body oxide layer and the stringers on the sidewalls of the trenches. Rather than depending on the directionality of the separation etch, the methods of the present invention chemically convert either the portions of the channel semiconductor material in the recesses adjacent the body oxide layers, or the portions of the channel semiconductor material on the sidewalls of the trenches, or both, such that a subsequent etch may selectively removes the portions of the channel semiconductor material from the sidewalls of the trenches.

(10) According to a first embodiment of the present invention, body oxide layers 104 of structure 100 of FIG. 1(a) is heavily boron-doped (i.e., p.sup.+-type), as deposited, while common drain regions 102 and common source regions 103 are arsenic-doped (i.e., n.sup.+-type). In this embodiment, body oxide layer 104 may be, for example, a 50-nm thick organosilicon layer (e.g., SiOCH) with a dopant concentration of about 1.0×10.sup.20 cm.sup.−3 or greater. After conformal deposition of channel semiconductor material layers 107 (e.g., intrinsic polysilicon), an annealing step (e.g., a rapid thermal annealing (RTA) step at 750° C. for 10 min.) is carried out. As a result of the annealing step, boron from body oxide layers 104 out-diffuses into their adjacent portions of channel semiconductor material 107, resulting in a dopant concentration in those portions of, for example, between about 5.0×10.sup.18 cm.sup.−3 and about 1.0×10.sup.19 cm.sup.−3. During this time, some amount of arsenic may also out-diffuse from common drain layers 102 and common source layers 103 into their respective adjacent portions of channel semiconductor material 107. However, as boron has a much higher diffusion rate than arsenic above 650° C., the arsenic diffusion is relatively inconsequential. FIG. 2(a) show the resulting structure 100, in which the portions of channel semiconductor material 107 on the sidewalls of trenches 109 are designated 107-1, while the boron-doped portions of the channel semiconductor material 107 adjacent body oxide layers 104 are designated 107-2.

(11) A selective etch using, for example, tetra-methyl ammonium hydroxide (TMAH) may be used to remove channel semiconductor material 107-1 from the sidewalls of trenches 109, leaving behind channel semiconductor material 107-2 in the recesses of body oxide layers 104, as TMAH has an etch rate that is at least 5 times higher for undoped polysilicon than doped polysilicon of dopant concentration of at least about 10.sup.18 cm.sup.−3. The selective etch may an isotropic wet etch or dry etch. The resulting structure is shown in FIG. 2(b).

(12) Other etchants with high selectivity of undoped polysilicon over doped polysilicon may also be used. For example, potassium hydroxide (KOH) has a selectivity of 20:1 for undoped polysilicon over doped polysilicon of a dopant concentration exceeding 10.sup.20 cm.sup.−3. Likewise, an aqueous solution of ethylene diamine and pyrocatechol (EDP) has a selectivity of 50:1 for undoped polysilicon over doped polysilicon of a dopant concentration exceeding 7.0×10.sup.19 cm.sup.−3.

(13) According to another embodiment of the present invention, body oxide layers 104 of structure 100 of FIG. 1(a) is carbon-doped, as deposited, while common drain regions 102 and common source regions 103 are arsenic-doped (i.e., n.sup.+-type). In this embodiment, body oxide layer 104 may be, for example, a 50-nm thick carbon-doped oxide with a carbon dopant concentration of about 5.0×10.sup.20 cm.sup.−3 or greater. After conformal deposition of channel semiconductor material layers 107 (e.g., in situ boron-doped polysilicon of a desired dopant concentration), an RTA step (e.g., at 750° C. for 10 min.) is carried out. As a result of the annealing step, carbon from body oxide layers 104 out-diffuses into their adjacent portions of channel semiconductor material 107, resulting in a dopant concentration in those portions of, for example, to about 5.0×10.sup.20 cm.sup.−3.

(14) A selective etch using, for example, EDP may be used to remove channel semiconductor material 107-1 from the sidewalls of trenches 109, leaving behind carbon-doped channel semiconductor material 107-2 in the recesses of body oxide layers 104, as EDP has an etch rate that is at least 100 times higher for undoped polysilicon than carbon-doped polysilicon of dopant concentration of at least about 10.sup.20 cm.sup.−3. The selective etch may an isotropic wet etch or dry etch.

(15) One consideration associated with the methods of the present invention is their effects on the threshold voltage (V.sub.th) of the resulting thin-film transistor. In one embodiment, at a dopant concentration of 5.0×10.sup.19 cm.sup.−3, the resulting V.sub.th may be much greater than the more desirable 1.5 volts achievable at the lesser dopant concentration of 5.0×10.sup.18 cm.sup.−3. In that regard, to take advantage of the high selectivity of either KOH or EDP, the V.sub.th of the resulting thin-film transistors may be too high. To fine-tune the dopant concentration, one may counter-dope channel semiconductor material 107-2 after the selective etch of FIG. 2(b). According to one embodiment of the present invention, after the selective etch of FIG. 2(b), a thin layer 120 of phosphorus silicate glass (PSG), e.g., 10-nm thick, may be deposited on structure 100, as shown in FIG. 3. Phosphorus in the PSG is then allowed to diffuse into channel semiconductor material 107-2 in a subsequent annealing step. The initial dopant concentration in the PSG, and the temperature and the duration of this subsequent RTA step may be empirically determined to achieve a given desired V.sub.th in the resulting thin-film transistors. Generally, at temperatures lower than 1000° C., phosphorus has a greater diffusion rate in polysilicon than boron. PSG layer 120 may be removed by wet isotropic etching after the RTA step (e.g., using hydrofluoric acid (HF)).

(16) Alternatively, rather than converting the dopant concentration in the portions of channel semiconductor material 107 adjacent body oxide layers 104, one may instead convert portions of channel semiconductor material 107 on the sidewalls of trenches 109. According to one embodiment of the present invention, isolation layers 106 are initially deposited as heavily doped n.sup.++-type c-silicon (SiOC), with a phosphorus dopant concentration of greater than 5.0×10.sup.20 cm.sup.−3, for example. In this embodiment, channel semiconductor material 107 may be deposited in situ doped to the desired dopant concentration for the channel regions (e.g., 1.0×10.sup.18 cm.sup.−3). Without a high dopant concentration in body oxide layers 104, a subsequent RTA annealing step turns the portions of channel semiconductor material 107 adjacent isolation layers 106 into n-type semiconductor material 107-3, as shown FIG. 4(i). Using HF or a fluorocarbon gas, n-type channel semiconductor material 107-3 may be removed at up to a 40:1 selectivity of n.sup.++-type polysilicon (e.g., dopant concentration of 3.0×10.sup.20 cm.sup.−3 or greater) over p-type polysilicon. It is believed that the difference in selectivity results from sensitivity to the phosphorus dopant profile. (See, e.g., Solid State Science and Technology, 2 (9). pp. 380-P383 (2013)). The resulting structure is shown FIG. 4(ii). Note that, unlike the other embodiments described above, in this embodiment, some portions of channel semiconductor material 107-3 remains on the sidewalls of trenches 109, although the result channel regions in the active strips achieve electrical isolation from each other.

(17) According to another embodiment of the present invention, isolation layers 106 are initially deposited as heavily doped p.sup.++-type borosilicate (BSG), with a boron dopant concentration of greater than 5.0×10.sup.21 cm.sup.−3, for example. In this embodiment, a 10-nm thick channel semiconductor material 107 may be deposited in situ doped to the desired dopant concentration for the channel regions (e.g., 1.0×10.sup.18 cm.sup.−3). An RTA annealing step (e.g., at 600° C. for a duration of 14 minutes, including the deposition time of channel semiconductor material 107) turns the portions of channel semiconductor material 107 adjacent isolation layers 106 into 10-nm thick p-type semiconductor material 107-3, as shown in FIG. 5(i). At 600° C., boron diffuses substantially faster than arsenic, such that the diffusion into the portions of channel semiconductor material 107 adjacent common source regions 103 and common drain regions 102 are inconsequential (e.g., less than 1.0 nm). Note that in FIGS. 5(i) and (ii), buffer oxide layer 121 may be added between isolation layers 106 and adjacent common source regions 103 to avoid boron diffusion into source regions 103. Also, BSG layers 106, buffer oxide 121 and body oxide layers 104 are recessed in a previous oxide etch step.

(18) Using an aqueous HF solution (e.g., one part HF to 50 parts nitric acid and 100 parts acetic acid, by volume), p-type channel semiconductor material 107-3 may be removed at up to a 50:1 selectivity of p-type polysilicon (e.g., dopant concentration of 5.0×10.sup.21 cm.sup.−3 or greater) over undoped or lightly-doped polysilicon. An even greater selectivity may be achieved using a lower percentage of nitric acid (HNO.sub.3). To achieve the same result in a dry-etch step, HF, HNO.sub.3 and acetic acid (CH.sub.3COOH) vapors may be used. (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,657 to Hwang et al.). The resulting structure is shown in FIG. 5(ii).

(19) Alternatively, rather than BSG, PSG may be used as isolation layers 106. FIGS. 6(i)-6(iii) illustrate a third alternatively embodiment of the present invention, in which isolation layers 106 dope their adjacent channel semiconductor material 107 for selective removal, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 6(i), isolation layers 106 are initially deposited as heavily doped PSG, with a phosphorus dopant concentration of greater than 1.0×10.sup.22 cm.sup.−3, for example. In this embodiment, channel semiconductor material 107 may be deposited as in situ doped amorphous silicon at 550° C. or as polysilicon at 625° C. to the desired dopant concentration for the channel regions (e.g., 1.0×10.sup.18 cm.sup.−3). In addition, 2-nm capping layer 122 of silicon oxide or silicon nitride, deposited at a temperature of 650° C. or less may be provided to prevent diffusion of the phosphorus out of channel semiconductor material 107. In this embodiment, both common source regions 103 and common drain regions 102 are provided adjacent metal layers 108 to reduce resistivity.

(20) Thereafter, as illustrated in FIG. 6(ii), an RTA annealing step at 820° C. for 60 seconds or less turns the portions of channel semiconductor material 107 adjacent isolation layers 106 into heavily doped n-type channel semiconductor material 107-3, activating the phosphorus dopants at the same time (e.g., to an equilibrium dopant concentration of about 3.0×10.sup.20 cm.sup.−3). The deposited amorphous silicon is also crystallized as channel semiconductor material 107-2. At 820° C., arsenic diffusion from common source regions 103 and common drain regions 102 into channel semiconductor 107 is insignificant.

(21) Thereafter, capping layer 122 is isotropically removed. Using an atomic chlorine gas, heavily-doped n-type channel semiconductor material 107-3 may be removed at a greater than 6:1 selectivity of n-type polysilicon (e.g., dopant concentration of about 3.0×10.sup.20 cm.sup.−3 or greater) over lightly-doped p-type polysilicon, as illustrated in FIG. 6(iii).

(22) The above detailed description is provided to illustrate specific embodiments of the present invention and is not intended to be limiting. Numerous modifications and variations within the scope of the present invention are possible. The present invention is set forth in the accompanying claims.